Curlycat3

Absolutely!!!

Hi Rhonda, I don't do hats...but in this case I guess I'll have to make an exception... See you Wednesday!

Hi Yosemite and Michelle, Will hopefully see you in the recovery room on Wednesday. Any body from Victoria had or having the surgery? It'd be great to have a support group of some kind here as well.

Congratulations! Take it easy.

Hi Lyn, Just noticed your post. I'm getting my band the same day in Vancouver at the False Creek Surgical Centre-probably the same as you. I go in at 8:30, with surgery scheduled for 10:00 am. Wonder if we'll see each other. Best wishes, Suzanne-from Victoria

Hi, I'm having my surgery on Dec. 2nd in Vancouver. I now know that there are doctors doing the procedures here, and there are support groups, but understandably only for their own patients. Anyone know if there are any support groups that you can attend no matter where you had your surgery? Thanks:rolleyes:

I'm exactly where you are with the pre-op diet and have my surgery the same day. So far my worst day was the second. The last few days I"ve just downed my shakes and tried not to think about it too much. I'm doing better than I thought I would but I still have my moments. I'm trying to keep the end prize in site and remember that they can't operate if you're liver's not ok. I can't wait to ask my surgeon what shape my liver is in when I wake up, hopefully it'll be good news! Anyway, hang in there, I'll be thinking of you 8 days to go-almost to the half way mark.:thumbup:

Thanks for checking this out. I've now got a mentor.:biggrin:

Hi, I'm 50 year old woman living in Victoria, BC Canada. I'm an elementary teacher on long-term medical leave, married with no children, and have 120-140 pounds to lose. I'm currently on my pre-op diet and will be banded on December 2nd. I would love to hear from someone who's around the same age and has had a similar amount of weight to lose. Thanks!:biggrin:

Thanks, I did find the info on the site but so far it seems that you can only access it if you live in the states. They have a link for Canada but there I can't find anything on the card on the Canadian site. I sent them an email so maybe I'll here something. I get what everyone is saying about the restaurants not honouring the card and I'm not worried about that, it's more that my husband is concerned that I have some kind of identification to say I've had the procedure. If I don't hear back from the Lap Band company, he'll just make a card for me. What did everyone get in terms of a patient kit? I got a booklet put out by the company about he band. The rest of the stuff I got was sheets of info from the dietician and of course 42 chocolate packages of Meditrim shakes and 14 Meditrim bars. So far I'm managing much better than I thought...nine days to go. Meditrim only makes chocolate shakes so that's why there's no choice in flavour. I wonder if it's also a not so subtle attempt to put you off chocolate for life! lol

I noticed somewhere on the forum that people were talking about having been given special cards identifying them as a stomach surgery patient who could only eat small amounts, the idea being that the restaurant might give them a break on price, charge them the children's rate etc. Does anyone know anything about this? My husband also thought that I should be carrying a card saying I had had the surgery in case of medical emergancies, like the ones I carry saying that I have had cataract surgery. I'm in Canada and the clinic I'm going to has an escellent reputation, as well as, experienced lap band surgeons, but they have only been performing the surgery since September and had never heard of any of this, although they thought it was a good idea and may look into doing it in the future. In the meantime, my husband thought he could make me one. If you have one would you be willing to tell me how they are layed out and what info. is included on them. Long post-Whew! Thanks!!!!:thumbup:

Thanks everyone for your support, it really helps. I'm on day 2 of the pre-op diet and starting to wonder what I'm doing, probably low energy and the prospect of 37 chocolate shakes and 22 cups of vegetables feels a little daunting. Very tempted to eat right now but I want this to work and my doctor told me about the liver and how critical this phase can be to having the surgery or having it canceled. I hope these next 11 days go fast-in terms of food anyway! lol:sad:

Thanks again. Another question comes up... Why are there failures? Is this from not following instructions or what? Guess I'm feeling a bit anxious as I get close to surgery date and really want to know that if I'm doing something this drastic ( at least considered so in my circle) that I'll have results that will allow me to live life to the fullest and be able to be active with my husband. I also feel, that although I'm worth it, we've hasd to cash in RRSPs for me to do this and I don't want to put my husband or myself through one more failed attempt. Guess I should just take a breath and stay positive... Thanks again!:bored:

Thanks for your response but that brings up another issue that I find confusing. Why do some doctors or whomever say you can lose a percentage of your weight but then I see lots of people on the forums who seem to have lost down to a "normal" weight. I understand that everyone's situation is different but it doesn't make sense to me.

I weighed in at my heaviest, 281.2 at my pre-op the other day. I'm 5"4 and 50 years old. the weight/BMI charts always say that i should weigh about 145 at the most. However the dietician said that I should aim for 190 for the time being and then go from there, maybe to 157 or so. I'm not hung up on a particular number, I just want to feel and be healthy and eneregetic, a normal size, and able to look at myself in the mirror without wanting to cry. I'm just curious as to what other people were told.

Take heart, you've made it through a week, you'll make it all the way.Just started my 2nd day of pro-op diet. I got 42 Chocolate Metrical shakes and 14 Metrical bars (theoretically peanut butter flavour-I think). I was a bit suprised that there was absolutely no choice in flavours. Fortunately these work for me but two straight weeks of them? Might have been nice to have the odd vanilla or strawberry. Oh, I also got the two cups of veggies as well. So far I'm doing a lot better than I thought, as I'm really picky about theses sort of products. i've tried the shake with hot water and then this morning mixed in decaf coffe. I split the shake up into two seperate servings and had them an hour or two apart as I found it hard to get one down in one sitting. They're temorarily very filling. It's weird how many variations there are in pre-op diet as well. I'm just trying not to think about the food? and trying to think about the results at the end. Hang in there!:bored:

Thanks again for the continuing reassurance, :bored:

Thanks for the encouragement! I'm sorry you had that experience ml, I hope I don't have the same one. It seems odd when you've had a small pouch made, even if it's not tightened. Best wishes on future success.:confused:

Hi, I just had my pre-op yesterday and met with the psychologist. I also suffer from anxiety and depression (I agree with you-so dammed depressed about my weight) and am on alot of medications for both. The psychologist seemed to want to acertain that I was not in danger of harming or killing myself and was not vomiting from anxiety as I had at one time in my life. She wanted to know that I had a strong support team and how my husband and I would manage any changes to our lifestyle. I was starting to get worried because she kept me for an extra half hour, but she finished by wishing me luck and saying she thought I'd do really well with the support I had and that I was welcome to come and talk to her again at any time. I don't know if that helps but those seemed to be the concerns. If you can convince your team that your in a safe space and have support I think all should go well. Best of luck!!!:confused:

Hi, just back from my pre-op in Vancouver. All went very well except my surgeon said that they don't expect patients to lose any weight in the six weeks between surgery and the first fill. That doesn't seem to match with what I've been reading on the forum. Please let me know what your experience has been at this particular stage of the journey. Thanks:ohmy:

Congratulations! My pre-op date is the 18th and I can hardly wait for that. Then it's two weeks of whatever pre-op diet they give me, and surgery on December 2nd. Interesting how some people seem to have to be on a special pre-op diet for months, weeks or days, and then others not at all. I wonder why? I know they're a lot of different surgeons and programs but you'd think there'd be some basic standard. Anyway, hope things go smoothly and you recover quickly. Best wishes! :wink2:

Everything I've been told or read so far says that straws are a "no-no" because people tend to drink so much more and more quickly when you use them. I like them too for that very reason but the message seems to be slow and gentle, even with water. I know I'd forget and suck down close to a litre before I knew it. I went today and got two sippy cups and some baby spoons in the baby section of ToysRUS. I'll give those a go for now. Thanks for the feedback. If you can sip from a straw slowly, or your doctor doesn't stipulate this, I say keep-on-sippin!:thumbup:

This is a bit of an odd question but I'm wondering if anyone can help me out with a solution. I usually drink my water from a 1 litre bottle that has a straw attached. I understand that straws are not good after surgery so I need to find another type of water bottle. A non-spill bottle because our cats make a sport out of knocking over our drinking glasses! So I'm wondering if the sippy cup style of container is any good, or is it still too straw-like? I'm not around little kids so I'm out of my league here. Any suggestions? Many thanks!:thumbup:

I was wondering about the time/amount of weight loss too. I understand that you need to put more work into it than some of the other surgeries, but have been very confused by some people losing all of their weight, and then other sites saying you're lucky if you can lose 30-40% overall, and then keep it off. I think that some of the info. I read was a few years old and didn't take in to account the improvements that have been made, not sure, it's a little unnerving at times. For me it's not lack of effort, it's seeing some results for my effort, and then some lasting results. It seems to me that you should be able to reach a reasonable healthy weight with the band and then maintain it. I was reassured by other people's posts, so i hope I'm on the right track!!!:thumbup: Thanks!

Hi, I'll be starting my two weeks pre-op diet on Wednesday, and then having my surgery on December 2nd, so I guess that makes me a Dec. Bandster. I'm also 50 years old and suspect that I will weigh-in at about 280. I'm running the gamit of emotions reading all these messages but I guess that's par for the course.:thumbup: